We had the good fortune of connecting with Silvia Passiflora and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Silvia, do you disagree with some advice that is more or less universally accepted?
Business cards. I still see people talk about networking and giving out your business card. But in Nashville there’s what I call the “New Nashville Handshake”. The old “Nashville Handshake” referred to slipping someone your CD with tracks on it. Now, instead of exchanging business cards or CD’s, you exchange Instagram handles with one another. I prefer using Instagram to further delve into someone’s work and to drop a message later. It sure helps with face recognition when I run into them later.

I was at a Nashville backyard barbeque at the home of Jesse Savio and Allyson Yogi, hosts of the The Get Up Nashville songwriter rounds. There was a circle of new songwriters. We started passing our cellphones around the circle and typing our Instagram handles into each others’ phones. It was so New Nashville!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m one of hundreds of new songwriters lured to Nashville, Music City USA because it’s simply where the magic is. In Nashville, the song is king and talent is miles deep. As a performer who plays the ukulele and the banjo, I stick out like a unicorn in a lineup of mostly guitar and the occasional keyboard player. It’s funny to see my tiny ukulele case amongst all the guitar cases in the backstage Green Rooms!

But even among ukulele players, I use techniques not usually associated with ukulele—lots of string bending and pinky slides to emulate the sound of a fiddle. I’m very proud of the unique sound I’ve created on ukulele and likewise on banjo.

Obviously, there’s the aesthetic of an island girl playing a banjo. I’m proud of the way I’m able to bring my love of land and farmland, growing up in Hawaii and being a certified master gardener, and seamlessly weaving those recognizeable universal themes into Nashville country music using an ukulele that sounds like a bluegrass fiddle, and a banjo fingerpicked like an ukulele.

When I’m on stage, I read the room and I can see that Nashville musicians who have literally seen it all, appreciating what I bring to the table. I see it happening from the stage and it’s so unbelievably moving.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
While the Broadway honky tonk and country music scene and is what Nashville visiitors are typically told to experience, it’s the original music of up-and-coming stars at Open Mics and Writer’s Rounds that they’ll be able to brag to their grandkids about someday. Here are a few of my favorite venues: Sundays, The Dive Motel, Tuesdays, Jane’s Hideaway; Thursdays, Bobby’s Idle Hour Tavern and The Bowery Vault. Make time to go to The Eastside Bowl—-a bowling alley with a great lineup and Buds and Brews, a cannibis dispensery and bar with live music—-only in Nashville! Don’t forget to check out Gruhn’s Guitars where you’ll get to touch expensive guitars and probably hear a few musicians playing out their best licks. You really can’t go wrong anywhere in the city. Music follows you everywhere.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The Nashville music community, especially other new transplants, has laid out the welcome mat. Who better to get your back than others who knows what it’s like to be the new kid on the block? Also, I already mentioned the networking backyard barbeque above at the home of Jesse Savio and Allyson Yogi, hosts of by The Get Up Nashville. It was my first time at someone’s home in Nashville so it was very special. Not to mention, I met so many songwriters in a casual setting!

Website: https://www.silviaontheukulele.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silviapassiflora

Other: Pokeberry Letter: https://open.spotify.com/track/0H0SAQ0TXEaTXtzblYWIzp?si=02ecaa39e140431b

Frame of Reference: https://open.spotify.com/album/74cf4Asxjs6rY6Dkvjrg8c?si=TjiKofiLQradGu8INuoq3w

Image Credits
All are selfies by Silvia Passiflora.

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